Manchester, N.H. (January 26) -- Assumption
rallied in the final minutes for a 73-71 victory over Saint Anselm
on Saturday afternoon in men's basketball action at Stoutenburgh
Gym.
The opening 10 minutes of the game went back and forth before
Saint Anselm used an 8-0 run to push the lead to 10 at 30-20 with
5:30 left in the period. That run was capped by a three-pointer
from freshman Thomas Baudinet (Watertown, Conn.),
who would end up with a career day for the Hawks. The lead went to
as many as 11 points before the Greyhounds rallied back to
within five with 2:18 left after a layup from Mike Foti
(Franklin, Mass.). Saint Anselm used an 8-2 run of its own
though over the final minutes of the period and took a 41-30 lead
into the halftime break. Senior Chris Vetrano (Andover,
Mass.) scored the final basket of the period on a layup as
the buzzer sounded.
In the second period, Assumption slowly chipped away at the lead
and with 9:43 remaining took its first lead since the 9:47 mark of
the first period on a three-pointer from Mitch Bajema
(Whitinsville, Mass.). The two teams then went nearly
three minutes without scoring as they combined for six straight
missed field goals before Vetrano tied the game again at 54-54 with
6:56 remaining.
Saint Anselm led by as many as four points at 66-62 with 2:48
remaining after another Baudinet three-pointer before the
Greyhounds rallied to take the lead for good with 1:30 left. After
Assumption led by three with 36 seconds left, the Hawks trimmed the
lead back to one after a pair of Baudinet free throws. The
Greyhounds knocked down a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line
in the final seconds though to wrap up the victory. Vetrano hit a
three-pointer from midcourt as the final buzzer sounded to account
for the 73-71 final.
Baudinet led the Hawks with a career-high 21 points and was
joined in double figures by John Tello (Ridgefield Park,
N.J.) with 14 points and Vetrano with 11.
Courtland Bluford (Ft. Washington, Md.) paced four
Greyhounds in double figures with 16 points, while Pat Shea
(Salem, Mass.) led the team with a game-high 11 rebounds.
With the loss, the Hawks fall to 8-10 overall and 6-8 in
Northeast-10 play, while Assumption improves to 16-5 overall and
10-4 in league play. Saint Anselm is back in action on Wednesday
night as the Hawks travel to Bryant for a league game beginning at
7:30 p.m. in Smithfield, R.I.
